The Sisters Grimm: The Guardians II: The book reopens
by Just Somedude 1
Summary: The Book of Everafter has unleashed something it was never supposed to lose, and now they're running wild. Packs of them, attacking Guardians and Scarlet Hand alike. With now two enemies to fight, the Guardians seem to be making their final stand. If the war is to be won, they must push the Scarlet Hand out. But that's hard to do when you're constantly attacked by a story's memory.
1. Chapter 1: A new enemy

**Hey guys, thanks for tuning into the second book in my Sisters Grimm series. So I would like to say something right quick. Thanks to Curlscat for bringing this one to my attention. I AM SEXIST! I AM A SEXIST PIG! I DEGRADE WOMEN! No she didn't say that lol, but she did say I needed to stick to my story a little bit more because I made Sabrina and Daphne do a lot of UnSabrina and Daphne like things. So I will definitely be trying to fix that in this book. I know if you've read the first one, you're probably dying to know what happened to Puck (And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, TAKE YO LAZY MOTHERFUCKING ASS BACK TO THE FIRST MOTHERFUCKING BOOK AND READ THAT SHIT YOU LAZY ASS MOFUCKAS! CUZ THIS SHIT IS RATED M FOR LANGUAGE BITCH!) But I'm gonna be a dick and like, put a whole ton of other storylines in lol. I'm an asshole. Also, I had a thought: Instead of like, machine like beings, the Scarlet Hand should've been made up of forgotten too. Thinks about it, Everafters split up to fight eachother, that's what I should've done with the Guardians and the Scarlet Hand. Too late now though. Anyways, God bless ya'll been running since day number one, ya'll make it work. Thanks for returning, and without any further ado, I give you, the second book of my shit. Good Lord I really need to fix my language, what would my mother say? Probably something along the lines of "If you won't say it around me, you shouldn't say it at all." Ahhh mothers, let's all take a moment and appreciate your mother. Without mine, who would tell me how unique I am when what she really means is "You stupid motherfucker" Momma if you reading this LOVE YA!**

 **Chapter 1: A new enemy**

 **Sabrina**

"Be careful," Sabrina warned "The last patrol went missing."

"Yeah, we heard." Daniel replied

Sabrina and four other Guardians were seated inside a room, surrounded by computers, all connected to the cameras on a patrol unit. Sabrina had walked around the house for a while before finding herself down here, still trapped, but doing something productive. They had sent a patrol out this morning with cameras, because the last one had gone missing. Three days later, they found their bodies hanging from the rafters of a bombed out building. They were ghostly pale, with horrified looks etched permanently on their faces. With no idea who had done it, although Sabrina suspected Scarlet Hand, the next patrol had cameras on their helmets to record what they saw.

"I say bomb this whole area," One of the soldiers said "Fuck patrolling it, burn it down. I ain't trying to end up like third squad."

"I second that motion." Another grumbled

"Cut the chatter boys," Daniel said "Eyes wide, those things could be anywhere."

Sabrina had met Daniel nearly a year earlier. She had helped bring him in when he had been wounded during a battle, she had even helped bandage him up. He was a very likable person. He had a wife and a daughter in Alabama. Daniel had left the old country in the sixteenth century and settled in Alabama. His wife gave birth to a baby girl two weeks before Daniel had to leave, he hadn't seen his wife or his daughter in four years. Over time Sabrina had learned that the Guardians still recruited, because most of the people you saw on the street were 'forgotten' or some might've been descended from one.. And while some Guardians had been fighting for hundreds of years, Sabrina had still met some that hadn't even been in for more than ten or fifteen years. Daniel had been fighting for fifty years, and had been one of the sailors in the Little Mermaid stories. Sabrina would talk to Daniel for hours, and he would tell her stories of when he used to sail with Prince Eric. She still liked to when he was not on the front lines, which wasn't very often.

"Captain, what's that?" The Guardian next to Sabrina, Blaine, asked

Sabrina saw what he was talking about the second he said it. A quick flash of movement behind a building at the end of the street. Sabrina wasn't able to make it out. In fact, if Blaine hadn't said anything, Sabrina might've thought she had imagined it.

"I don't know," Daniel said "Anybody else see it?"

The other four members of the patrol team nodded. Sabrina scanned the screen, but she didn't see the thing again.

"Check it out?" One of the soldiers asked

"Yeah," Daniel said "Smash, Rivera, check it out."

Two soldiers moved forward, and Sabrina kept an eye on their screens. Smash looked over at Rivera and nodded. Rivera moved up in between the alley, Smash ten feet behind, covering his advance. Rivera moved forward slowly, stepping almost without a sound. Sabrina could see he was shaking. It was slight, something you normally wouldn't notice, but she could see the slight quiver of his hand. All Sabrina could see from the camera angle was his hands, and his gun, but she was willing to bet his face was lit with fear.

"You're alright," Smash said "Easy buddy, easy."

"Something is watching me." Rivera said, his voice quivering

"Yeah, I've got that feeling too." One of the other Guardians said

Rivera did a quick turn left, then looked up, then back down. Sabrina was getting nervous, knowing whatever they had seen was watching the soldiers. She moved her eyes to Smash's camera, he had moved into the alley and was standing with his back to the wall, looking down the alley where Rivera had gone.

"SMASH LOOK OUT!" Daniel called

Sabrina looked at Daniel's camera, then a lot of things happened at once. Some sort of creature swooped down from the top of the building, and right into Smash. The thing was clear, like white Jello, with bits of something floating in it, it was vaguely animal shaped, with some sort of wings. Even with a quick glance Sabrina knew exactly what it was, she had only seen it one time before and she wouldn't ever forget it. Repressed stories, from the Book of Everafter. It shot straight into Smash, and a burst of bullets shot from his gun and hit Rivera. Rivera dropped to the ground and the thing jumped out of Smash's body, leaving him lying on the ground, pale and horrified. The thing shot back onto the top of the building and disappeared. It had all happened in an instant, nobody had any time to react.

"What the fuck was that?" One of the Guardians asked

"I don't know," Daniel said "Form up!"

The backed together, Sabrina's eyes were dashing back and forth from camera to camera. Rivera's had been hit and was now nothing but static, Smash's was also static. The thing had caused some sort of EMP.

"There!" One of the Guardians yelled

The thing jumped back out at them, and this time the three of them fired at it. It shot clean through one of the Guardians and he fell to the ground, his camera turning to static. The thing flew out and landed on all fours, skidding a little backwards and the pouncing forward again. He passed through the other Guardian, who turned his gun on Daniel and fired. Daniel camera shook as he jerked back and forth and then fell to the ground. The Guardian's camera turned to static, and then the thing appeared above Daniel's camera. It cocked it's head back and forth, as though regarding the camera, the it suddenly burst forward and Daniel's camera turned to static.

 **Elias**

 **Frontline Guardian base, 09:00 hours**

"So, what's your story?" Nico asked

"Well," One of the new guys, Jake, said "Our tank was hit, caught fire, Bible here got me out, the rest of the crew was dead. We spent a few weeks healing up at the Grimm's house, now we're back out here."

"What about you guys?" The other new guy, Bible, asked

"Jabberwocky," Cole said roughly "Killed our captain and another crew member."

"That's rough." Bible said

"For what it's worth," Elias said "Welcome to Drill."

"Thanks." Jake said

The tank had been named Drill so long ago, Elias got a bit nostalgic thinking about it. He remembered the day they cut it into the front of the tank, they had each done a letter. Morgan did the D, Bronze did the R, Nico did the I, Elias did the L, and Cole had done the other L.

"So Jake, you and Bible are both gunners?" Cole asked

"Yeah." They said at the same time

"For the record," Cole said "I'm the commanding officer in here, what I say goes. Understood?"

"Yes sir." They both answered again, simultaneously

"So, how long you guys been in?" Elias asked, leaning back

"I've been in since about 1903." Jake answered

"I've been in so long it's all started to blur together." Bible said

"I heard that." Cole said

They sat in silence for a moment. Jake ran his hand through his red hair, sighing as he did so. Cole was stacking boxes of fifty caliber against the back behind the driver seat, and Elias was sitting in his seat just below, eating a granola bar.

"So Bible," Elias began conversationally "How did you get your name? I assume it's a nickname?"

"Yeah, my real name is Luke," Bible answered "But they started calling me Bible because of this."

He lifted the sleeve of his uniform to reveal his forearm. On his arm, in black ink going down the length of his arm, was a single bible verse. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

"Interesting story," Nico said "You guys remember Morgan's tattoo?"

Nico, Elias, and Cole smiled at the thought. Morgan had a Jesus mural on his back, and for some reason, Elias felt his throat catch. The five of them had been together as long as Elias could remember, and that had changed in less than two minutes. Elias blamed himself, he should've been sitting on the top of the tank, scanning all around them, not on the front. If he had been more attentive, he might've seen the jabberwocky, and they could've been in the tank and safe.

"I remember our driver," Jake said "Name was Roman, had a scar just below his eye, looked like a cross."

"How did he say he got that again?" Bible asked "Knife fight or something?"

"The hell if I remember." Jake said

"So what exactly happened to your tank?" Cole asked, finishing his work

"We were patrolling, standard shit," Jake said "Pulled around the bend and parked, Johnson poked his head out the top and got hit by a sniper. Then a lot of stuff happened at once, the tank caught fire, and me and Bible were the only ones that survived."

"After being in there for as long as we were, that tank was kind of like home," Bible said "It was like watching your house burn to the ground, with your family burning inside of it."

"I know what that feels like." Cole said

"We've slept, ate, and bled inside this tank," Nico said "For nearly three hundred years or so."

"Even held a church service in there one time." Elias said

The three of them laughed, thinking about that day. It was 1933, they were somewhere in Africa, Morgan had taken out a bible and just started reading out loud. After a few minutes of that, they were all sitting in a circle on the top of the tank listening to the captain pick stories at random and read them. The five of them had shared a bond of brotherhood that Elias didn't think anything could break. Not even death.

"So who does what?" Jake asked

"Well," Elias said "I got eyes, Nico is on the cannon, you and Bible are gunners, and Cole is the driver."

"Sounds about right." Bible said

"Our guy Bronze used to drive, sometimes, he mostly just gunned, Morgan drove most of the time." Cole said

"So you guys hear anything about that patrol that went missing?" Nico asked

"They turned up dead." Cole confirmed

"What about the fairy?" Elias asked

"Dead, most likely." Cole said

They had all seen one of the patrols come back carrying a wounded soldier. It had been that fairy, Puck. He was bleeding from his head, legs, chest, everywhere. Shortly after, another patrol had gone out to investigate what had happened, and they never came back. A second patrol had been sent to find them, they hadn't returned either.

"Yo!" Somebody yelled from outside "Anybody in there?"

Elias poked his head out the top. One of the soldiers from Puck's patrol was outside, Jax.

"Yeah, what's up?" Elias asked

"Second patrol didn't return, word from the base, some weird creature, repressed memories or some shit," Jax said "Sending three tanks and some infantry to go check it out."

"Copy that," Elias said "Boys, suit up."

"The fuck does he mean repressed memories?" Bible asked

Elias shrugged and slid back down into the tank and pulled the door shut. Everybody jumped into their respective seats, Cole at the wheel, right above Elias on the scope, Nico on the gun right next to Cole, and Bible and Jake on the machine guns in front of Elias.

"Alright, let's roll it out." Cole said, starting the tank

Elias felt the familiar jerk of the tank as it lurched forward and began moving. Cole was looking through the window on the top, and steered them into formation with the other tanks. They drove out the front of the base, and started down the road. Elias wondered what had happened to the patrols, but he knew that, one way or another, he would be finding out for sure.

 **Relda**

"How did they release them from the book?" Charming demanded, looking at the footage

"We don't know sir," One of the Guardians said "But these things tore straight through them. Our men didn't even stand a chance."

"They must've used some sort of spell." Daphne said

Relda thought hard. Over the years, she had seen a lot of things. She'd been captured by a giant, she'd driven to New York to help heal Puck and find the kidnapper of her daughter in law, she'd been involved in _two_ wars, and that was just since Sabrina and Daphne's had showed up. But never ever had she seen something like this. Repressed storied had been released directly out of the Book of Everafter, and were rampaging through the town killing soldiers.

"Is it just Guardians?" She asked "Or is it Scarlet Hand too?"

"Unknown." Another Guardian said

Relda wished Sabrina hadn't run off to the library to see if she couldn't find anything on it. It was so unlike her to actually research something, in Relda's experience. she normally charged off and played by ear. Perhaps this war had shown her how dangerous that would be.

"Send three tanks, and a few foot patrols," Charming ordered "Find these things, and figure out how to kill them."

Relda knew of only one way to actually dispose of them, and it could result in many many deaths. But that was a risk that they would have to take, because the fate of the entire world could be at stake.

 **Atticus**

 **Scarlet Hand base: Town hall 1100 hours**

Atticus studied the map on the desk in front of him. He glared at the pieces marking where the Guardians were positioned. Their attacks should've been more effective than this, and after they released the jabberwocky, it had gone rogue. They had to go back into the Book of Everafter to get it, and a lot of Scarlet Hand soldiers had died attempting to capture it. Things hadn't been going Atticus's way recently. First, his incompetent soldiers had let the Grimm girl, his only chance of getting any information about the Guardians, escape. Needless to say, they had all been executed. Then those repressed stories had somehow latched onto his soldiers and or the jabberwocky and escaped from the book.

"Sir." A voice said from the doorway

Atticus glanced up to see one of his officers standing in the doorway. He stood as they all did, very machine like in the doorway, rigid and stiff. He saluted and snapped to attention as Atticus looked at him. Atticus stood and crossed the room to stand in front of him, eyeing him. His black officer's uniform with several patches and a single, large, blood red, handprint on his chest.

"At ease," Atticus said "What news do you bring me?"

The soldier took his hand away from his head and put them behind his back. He cleared his throat and began his report.

"Those memories attacked again, this time taking out a supply unit," He reported "And they're also attacking Guardians."

Atticus allowed himself a moment of satisfaction in knowing that the Guardians were also experiencing difficulty. But it still didn't change the fact he needed to either eliminate these things, or figure out how to control them. The jabberwocky had made him look bad enough, and now this. It was enough to drive any man insane. He knew he couldn't fight a war and try to control these things at the same time, so he knew they would just have to work themselves out. In the meantime, Atticus needed to think up a way to push the Guardians back. They were almost as stubborn as the Scarlet Hand units.

"Any word on the jabberwocky?" He asked

"No sir," The soldier reported "Spies report he attacked a Guardian tank, killed two, and then disappeared again."

"Get that creature under control!" Atticus exclaimed, his anger rising

"The last time we tried, it took out almost four squads." The soldier protested

"Figure it out," Atticus growled "Now go back out there, and do not come back until you have some _good_ news to report."

"Yes sir." The soldier said, saluting

He turned sharply and left the room. Atticus slammed the door behind him and turned back to the map on his desk, his temper rising fast. As Atticus glared at the map, a plan started to formulate in his mind. It was a long shot, but it just might gain them the ground that they need, and capture the farmlands at the same time. He grinned as the plan started to come together. He turned to leave the office and order his men to prepare for battle, knowing full well that the Guardians would have no idea what was coming.

 **Red**

"Where is he?" Sabrina demanded

"In the infirmary," Red said "I'll take you to him."

Red and Sabrina hurried off as fast as they could. A medivac had flown in just an hour ago with wounded on it. Red was shocked to find Puck among them, and he looked bad. His flesh was torn away in chunks, blood was flowing from underneath his hair, he was severely burned. Once Red had made sure Puck was in a stable condition, she had hurried off to find Sabrina. Red knew Sabrina was angry for not being told sooner, but she also understood that Puck had to be in a stable condition. They rounded the corner into the hallway and made a sharp left into the infirmary where Puck was being kept. His entire upper body and his arms were covered in bandages, and so was the top of his head. Red was thankful his wings hadn't been out when the explosion went off, he would've lost them.

"My God," Sabrina said "He looks worse than when he had his wings ripped off by the jabberwocky."

"The medic said they were attacked on patrol and Puck got hit by a grenade, he's honestly lucky to be alive." Red said

Sabrina approached his bedside slowly, as though he might vanish if she moved too fast. Red came up behind her and checked Puck's vital signs on the monitor. He was breathing steadily and he didn't seem to be losing blood anymore. Red was thankful that they hadn't been cut off this time. Red remembered a few years back, when the Scarlet Hand had cut off the Guardians between the house and the base, and the wounded hadn't been able to get through. Their wounds were being closed with torn bits of the uniform off of dead soldiers and if they could walk the would fight. A lot of the Guardians had died from their wounds due to the fact that they hadn't been given proper treatment immediately. Puck had been able to get back instead of laying on the battlefield wounded waiting for a medic.

"How is he?" A voice said from behind

The two of them turned to find Veronica and Henry standing behind them. Henry looked tired, and Red assumed he was even more tired than he looked. He had been in one of the control rooms doing all he could to help with the drones. They always needed an extra set of eyes.

"He's alive for now," Red said "His condition is stable. He should recover."

"What happened to him?" Henry asked

"Something about an ambush, caught in an explosion." Red said

They said nothing, but simply stared down at Puck's body. His monitors made no odd sounds, and he made no sudden movements. Red knew he was sleeping, but he was so pale he looked almost lifeless. She was tempted to disregard what the monitors said and just pull a white sheet over his head. Sabrina wiped her eyes and turned to walk away. Sabrina was one of the toughest, meanest, and downright stubbornest girls she had ever encountered. She rarely, if ever, cried. If she was crying now, it meant the war was finally taking it's toll on her. Red had seen more than one soldier discharged from the war because of the mental stress of constant fighting, it was never pretty.

"Give her some time," She told Henry as he turned to go after he "She just needs to be alone with her thoughts."

"Sabrina alone with anything when she's upset never has a good outcome." Henry said, staring grimly at Puck

 **Pvt. Dane Mathews**

 **Approximately 19:00 hours after ambush**

"Watch for anti tank." Bible said over the radio

"Don't see anything," Mathews reported "You're clear to advance."

"Scope to Eagle Eye," Another voice came "I repeat, Scope to Eagle Eye, do you copy?"

"Eagle Eye." Mathews confirmed

"Two unidentified forms in that bakery by the corner," Scope said "Not human. Can you see them?"

"I've got a clear view of the bakery," Mathews said "But I don't see anything."

"Alright, maybe I'm just going crazy." Scope said

Mathews said nothing in response. His mind was back on Puck again. Puck hadn't been in as long as they had, and nobody had been very fond of Puck when he joined up with them. Puck had been the replacement for one of Mathews's best friends. But battle formed bonds stronger and quicker than anything else. They had all grown to like Puck, and had accepted him as their brother. Mathews was sick of his friends dying, he just wanted it to stop.

"Dane?" O'Riley's voice came "You alright up there?"

"Yes sir." Mathews said back

O'Riley never used his first name. First names were a personal basis for him, and if he used your first name, he was genuinely concerned for you. Mathews had heard the Lieutenant use a first name once in his entire life. It had been so long ago that Mathews wasn't even sure if it was a dream or not.

"Keep your eyes peeled," O'Riley said "Head in the game soldier."

"Copy that sir." Mathews replied

He scanned the town from his treetop post, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. The Scarlet Hand was usually always making some sort of move. Striking nearly four or five times a day. But the attacks were fewer and further between. Usually only one every few days now.

"Hey Liam," Mathews heard Black's voice come over his headset "Scan left."

Mathews adjusted his aim to watch Liam's back. Liam turned left quickly and glanced down the alleyway. He turned back and made an all clear signal to the rest of the squad, who followed him into the building on the other side of the alley. O'Riley stepped through the door first and Liam followed, then the rest of the squad. Mathews watched a tank roll down the street behind them while they scanned through the buildings.

"Eagle Eye," Scopes voice came again "I see those things again but I still can't get a good look at them."

"Copy that," Mathews said "Where at?"

"Top of the bakery." Scope replied

Mathews adjusted his aim back to the bakery and this time caught sight of what Scope was talking about. There were two massive dog shaped things, but they were clear and had what looked like bits of debris lodged inside their bodies.

"What the hell is that?" Mathews asked "It looks like it's made of water or something."

"What's going on up there?" Black's voice came through Mathews's headseat

"We've got two unidentified things on the roof of the bakery just down the street." Mathews reported

"Things?" O'Riley asked him

"I'm not sure what they are, but they're watching you guys." Mathews said

"Take a shot at it," Liam said "I'm willing to bet that's what attacked the patrol."

Mathews adjusted his aim onto the creature and drew in a breath. The things didn't move, but observed. Mathews wondered if it was smart to shoot them, just in case they were friendly. His thoughts were quickly pushed aside when his squad drew closer to the bakery and the things got in position to pounce.

"Mathews, hit it." O'Riley whispered through the headset

The squad had stopped dead in the middle of the road with their weapons trained at the top of the bakery, no moving an inch. Mathews squeezed the trigger and scored a direct hit on one of the creature's heads. He pulled back the bolt action and went for the other one, but then he noticed something. The one he hit hadn't gone down, it had absorbed his bullet. Mathews could see where he had hit it, and he could even see where the bullet was lodged in it's neck, but it wasn't dead.

"Miss?" Jax asked

"No, right through the neck," Liam said "You see it?"

Just then the things pounced into the street, and ran at them. And gunfire cut through the air, breaking the silence.

 **Well not bad for a first chapter I would assume. Confession time I started working on this chapter a few days after I finished the first one, but anyways, neither here nor there. Drop a review and let me know what you guys thought of it, God bless ya'll, I love you guys and I'm gonna see you next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2: Assault

**Hey guys how's it being? I'm sorry about the wait but the first chapter was just to kinda tide ya'll over until I got further in my other series about the son of Artemis, which if you haven't read, I would urge you to do so immediately, but it's your call. Pfft, no it ain't, go read it. Anyways thanks to all you guys who came and read it, thanks to all two of you who reviewed on it, I understand that this is a really small community so everybody knows everybody and everybody reviews on everything. Sorry about the long wait between chapters I've been dealing with some shit. Anyways, love ya'll, God bless and without any further ado, let's be sliding into this shit.**

 **Chapter 2: Assault**

 **Liam**

Liam let a burst loose at the creature as it hopped off the building after them. It took them directly on and then kept running, as though they hadn't even hit him. Liam backed up as he jumped onto one of the Guardians in front of him. The Guardian fell without the creature ever doing anything to him, he just turned pale and dropped. Liam let another burst at him, but again the bullets caught in him as though he wasn't affected. The Guardian next to Liam blasted it with a shotgun, knocking off a chunk of it's face but it still kept advancing. Suddenly, an idea began to form in Liam's head.

"EVERYBODY DOWN!" Liam yelled, cocking his gun

He clicked the grenade launcher on the bottom of his weapon and pulled the trigger, letting a frag fly into the creature, exploding on impact. Bits of whatever it was made of flew everywhere, and the creature was no longer a problem, at least not that particular one.

"HIT THE OTHER ONE!" O'Riley ordered, yelling over the gunfire "GRENADES OR SHOTGUNS!"

The sound of shotgun fire ripped through the air while everybody else prepared their explosives. Jax launched a frag at the creature, blowing it to bits just like the first one. Liam's ears were ringing from the sounds of the explosions but at least the creatures were dead, which was a small price to pay. Several members of the squad were checking out the four dead Guardians, being absolutely sure they were really dead.

"Collect that goo," Conners ordered them "Maybe we can figure something out about it."

"Captain Oswald is down!" Somebody yelled

"Shit," Miller grumbled "Fourth squad has no officer."

"Battlefield promotion." Liam said, sitting down

"Liam!" O'Riley called "Contact base camp, let them know we've got something."

"Yes sir." Liam said, pulling out his radio

"What the fuck were those things?" Miller asked, sitting down next to him

"Who knows," Liam said, clicking buttons "Could be a new Scarlet Hand weapon."

"Doubtful," Miller sighed "Those things seem way too chaotic to be controlled by either side."

"Base camp," Liam said "Base camp, we've found something."

"What'd you get?" A voice responded

"Some sort of goo," Liam said "A bit hard to explain."

"I copy," The same voice responded "Pull back to the base, let's check it out."

"Copy that." Liam said "Lieutenant! They want us to pick this shit up and take it back!"

"Alright, somebody get this stuff in a bag or something!" O'Riley ordered

A couple guys grabbed some weapons and scrambled around, scooping the goo up and putting it in bags. Liam stood up and scanned around for more enemies, just to be sure. Nobody shot at them or came flying out of the building, so Liam decided he could calm down a little bit. Jax was sweeping the area behind him, and O'Riley was coordinating the men collecting samples.

"Alright ladies!" O'Riley called out "Let's move, we've got to make sure the rest of this block is secure!"

"You think if we just nuke this God forsaken town," Somebody grumbled "It might end the war?"

"Not a bad idea," Conners said "Except it'd probably kill all of us too."

"Better than spending another minute in this hellhole." Jax said

Liam agreed with him, one hundred percent. Every single day, death was starting to seem like a better alternative to fighting a seemingly never ending war, for a cause most of them didn't even think was worth fighting for anymore.

 **Bible**

"Okay," Cole ordered "Eyes open boys, we're officially on front lines now."

"Hey," Jake called from the gunner seat below them "Transmission in, they ran into whatever attacked the patrol."

"And?" Elias asked

"Killed two of them," Jake said "Bringing them back to look at them, but they're made of some weird gel like substance. Only high grade explosives or shotguns will do anything to them."

"Good thing to know we're packing both." Nico laughed

The rest of the tank crew laughed, and Cole drove on up the street. The crew had warmed up to Jake and Bible quickly, and treated them like brothers. All the Guardians were brothers, but some were often bitter when replacements came in. Perhaps it was because Jake and Bible had lost their entire crew as well, and it was a sort of sympathy thing. Regardless, Bible was grateful for there not being awkward feelings because new not really new recruits had just replaced two guys they had fought with for hundreds of years.

"Heads up." Elias said from the window at the top "Suspicious activity at two o'clock, Bible, you're up."

Bible rotated the cannon and looked down the scope to see where Elias was referring to. An old, bombed out barber shop at the end of the street, with movement coming from inside the structure. Bible couldn't exactly tell what it was, but they weren't Guardians, that much was for sure.

"Not Guardians." He said

"What are they then?" Cole asked

"Can't tell." Bible said, squinting

"Fuck it," Nico said "Hit it, we'll apologize later if it isn't Scarlet Hand."

"Sir?" Bible asked Cole

Cole nodded and Bible zeroed the gun, making sure it would be a direct hit. Cole hit the breaks and the tank stopped in it's track, making it easier for Bible to get a zero on the shop. When it was locked, Bible put his hand on the trigger, and began to pull.

"On the way." He said

He pulled the trigger, and the familiar boom of the tank cannon sounded, and then what was left of the barber shop was suddenly leveled. Whatever was inside was dead, enemy or not. Bible usually didn't fire unless he was sure it wasn't friendly, but with Jabberwockies and whatever the hell those creatures were running around, you couldn't take chances.

"Hit." Bible confirmed

"Alright," Cole ordered "Elias, on top, keep an eye out, Nico and Jake, stay on those guns, Bible, grab a rifle and let's go."

Bible grabbed and assault rifle and handed one to Cole, then grabbed one for himself. Elias already had one in hand, and pushed the top of the tank open, crawling out. He scanned outside quickly, then motioned that it was clear for Cole and Bible. They pulled themselves out and dropped onto the ground, the mud splashing under their boots. They advanced slowly towards the rubble, keeping their weapons raised just in case. Nobody shot at them, and Bible was seriously beginning to question what exactly it was he had hit. They dropped into the crater of the barber shop and scanned around, looking for the targets.

"M60," Cole said, kicking a machine gun away "Belts of ammo, I don't see anything else."

"I got blood," Bible said, moving to the corner "Body parts, wearing black, they were Scarlet hand."

"They must be-" Cole began, but he was cut short as gunfire tore through the air

"Scarlet Hand units!" Elias yelled, dropping into cover behind the tank cannon "Dead ahead!"

Cole and B ducked into the crater and fired off in the direction Elias had pointed, and immediately bullets began bouncing back at them. The two machine guns on the front of the tank blazed to life as Nico and Jake opened fire, forcing their enemies out into the open. They stood in the streets, moving up in leapfrog formation, two more taking the place of every one of them cut down. Bible shot one in the head, and Cole motioned for him to fall back.

"GET THE TANK STARTED!" He yelled over the gunfire

Elias hopped back into the tank while Jake and Nico covered their retreat. A few of the units were already dead, but more were coming, it was an attack. They were moving to take this part of the town, they had to get word back before they overtook them. Cole and Bible reached the tank and climbed on, Cole ducked down and began firing while Bible dropped into the tank. Cole came in just after him, slamming the latch as he did so.

"Take those bastards out!" He ordered

Bible immediately slid into the gunner seat and adjusted the tank cannon to look at the advancing soldiers, who were coming closer and closer. He aimed the cannon right into the center of the street, where four or five of them were gathered, making their way to them.

"On the way!" He yelled, pulling the trigger

Another massive boom sounded and the Scarlet Hand soldiers disappeared in a massive cloud of fire and dust. Cole backed the tank up and Bible leveled the cannon, firing another shot. Nico and Jake kept the guns on the front going and taking out anything that moved

"We're under attack!" Cole was yelling into the radio "Scarlet Hand is pushing! Tell the men to get ready!"

 **Lt. Jack Miller**

"Steady boys!" O'Riley called

They were seated down in the trenches on the very front lines, waiting for the Scarlet Hand attack. Miller hated waiting, it was worse than the actual fighting itself. The silence gave you time to think about possibilities, never a good thing during a war. It had been forty five minutes since that tank had come back, and still the Scarlet Hand hadn't made a push.

"See anything?" He heard Liam ask over his headset

"Negative," Miller said back "We're all clear over here."

"Heads up boys," Another voice came over the headset "One of our birds just got shot down, they're close."

"They're massing," O'Riley said over his headset "Keep your heads low and your sights locked."

Miller saw forms moving in closer, going between buildings and streets, wearing black uniforms. He knew what it was, Scarlet Hand, they were making another push. They had been trying to take this section of town for weeks, but hadn't quite been able to secure it, and now they were trying again.

"Tangos!" Miller yelled "Dead ahead, it's an all out assault!"

"Jigsaw!" A solider next to him yelled "Hit em!"

The machine gun on his left blazed to life, spitting rounds at the Scarlet Hand soldiers, who had now come into full view, firing into the trench. The Guardians returned fire, cutting into them. The Guardian next to Miller took a bullet to the head and dropped, dead.

"Man down!" Somebody yelled

"There's too many of them!" Somebody else yelled "We have to retreat!"

"Hold the line as long as we can!" O'Riley yelled "Tanks are on the way, hold your positions!"

Miller fired again, taking a Scarlet Hand unit in the head. They were now ducking behind buildings and rubble, setting up guns and mortars. Miller ducked as a bullet bounced off the dirt in front of him, missing his head by mere inches.

"They're getting closer!" Miller yelled

"They're right on top of us!" Liam yelled

 **Sgt. Graham (Graham Cracker) Dudley**

 **Guardians first tank battalion**

 **Tank name: Lucy**

"There they are!" Duff said, looking out the scope

"Alright boys," Graham said "Give em hell!"

"On the way!" Duff said, pulling the trigger

A massive boom sounded, and a cloud of dust appeared in the Scarlet Hand lines. Bear and Crock opened fire from their machine guns, while Bones loaded another rocket into the cannon. Duff fired again, taking out a mortar team.

"Boy are we glad to see you guys!" A voice said from the radio

"Copy that," Graham said "It's just us and two others for the moment, but there's more on the way."

"Hallelujah." The voice responded

They fired another rocket, leveling a building on top of another Scarlet Hand mortar team. Bear and Crock continued to fire into the Scarlet Hand as they advanced, quickly getting closer to the Guardian line. Scarlet Hand soldiers weren't made to adapt to situations, they were meant to simply move forward and shoot, eventually overwhelming their enemy.

"Sarge," Duff said "They're too close, we can't use our cannon anymore, we might hit our own guys."

"Get outside and use the gun on top," Graham said "Bones and I will cover you."

Bones threw the hatch open and Duff climbed out, while Graham and Bones used their rifles inside the tank. They poked their heads outside the hatch and fired at the Scarlet Hand, while Duff used the gun on the top. They picked them off as quick as they could, but there was too many of them.

"Fall back!" One of the soldiers below them yelled "Retreat! We're overrun!"

 **Conners**

"Let's go!" O'Riley yelled "Move!"

The Guardians fell back, jumping from the trenches and moving away. Conners found himself running beside O'Riley, his oldest friend. They had been in together since almost the very beginning, and had saved eachother's lives more than once. The tanks began going in reverse, and the Guardians used them for cover, running and firing from behind them.

"Conners!" Liam yelled from behind him "Move you fat son of a bitch!"

"I'm not fat!" Conners laughed "I'm just big boned!"

"Please," Liam laughed, rolling his eyes "You look like John Goodman with a beard!"

Conners laughed as they slid into the trench and returned fire at the Scarlet Hand, O'Riley sliding in behind them. He tossed a frag over his shoulder and moved next to them, shaking his head at the two of them.

"Coming from somebody who looks like Mathew Perry and Zac Efron's love child," O'Riley laughed "I don't think you'd have much room to talk."

"Hey," Liam laughed "The ladies love it."

O'Riley shook his head and fired again, hitting a Scarlet Hand soldier. Conners let a burst at them, taking one in the leg and another in the neck. He set the stand on his gun up and squeezed the trigger, giving him better aim.

"Frag!" O'Riley yelled, reaching down

He tossed something back at the Scarlet Hand, and then it exploded. Conners hated moments like that, when he realized just how close to death he had come, and if it wasn't for O'Riley's reflexes, he would've been dead.

"Nice throw," Jax said "Good save."

"That's what I'm here for," O'Riley said, firing his weapon again "What would you boys do without me?"

"I'd be dead by now." Conners said, letting another burst go

Conners sprayed a line of Scarlet Hand units that had tried to rush them, but had been gunned down. The Scarlet Hand had taken cover inside the first trench the Guardians had retreated from, and a full scale gunfight had erupted, bodies lining the ground between the two. Conners never got used to the horrors of war, despite how many times he'd been in battle.

"Mama!" A kid was yelling

Conners risked a glance to where the voice had come from, and wished he hadn't. There was a kid, looking about eighteen or nineteen, lying propped up in the trench, covered in his own blood. Conners saw, and never forgot, the kid using his hands to hold his own guts inside his stomach while the medic worked frantically. He screamed in pain, yelling unintelligible words, sometimes for his mother. Conners tried to drown out his screams by focusing on the gunfire, but he still heard him.

"Somebody get that kid some morphine!" O'Riley yelled

Conners let another burst go, shooting in sync with O'Riley. The tanks were shooting into the trenches now and Scarlet Hand reinforcements had arrived, tanks and some more infantry. Four more Guardian tanks rolled out of the forest behind them and opened fire, taking a chunk of them out. A Scarlet Hand tank fired into the Guardian line, knocking a giant crater in the trench.

"Medic!" Somebody yelled

Conners looked over and saw one man lying a few feet away from the explosion, his legs completely blown off. Conners turned away and fired again, shooting directly into the Scarlet Hand trench. The smoke from gunfire and explosions was thick, and there wasn't much to be seen except muzzle flashes and bullets flying around them, so it wasn't so much aiming at the Scarlet Hand as shooting in their general direction and maybe you hit one.

"We're gonna have to fall back again!" O'Riley yelled "They just got another drop of extra troops, they might be about to-"

He stopped suddenly, and a spray of blood came from the front of his head. He tumbled backwards, dropping to the dirt, a bullet hold in his helmet. Everything seemed to slow down, and the world around him disappeared.

"Lieutenant!" He yelled, dropping down beside O'Riley

"Oh shit!" He heard Liam yelled "O'Riley!"

"No!" Jax yelled, dropping down next to him

"No, no, no, no, no!" Conners yelled desperately "Lieutenant, come on man, don't die on us!"

But it was too late, O'Riley was dead, gone. Conners shook him, but he didn't move, he simply stared, wide eyed, at the sky he could not see.

 **I know so many of my regular reviewers that probably HATE me right now *cough cough* PUCKABRINALOVER. Sorry about this, I thought a lot about it before I did, but in the end, I had to. Just helps, anyways, God bless, read and review, I love you guys.**


	3. Chapter 3: Letters to the front

**Hey guys, I know a lot of people are really angry for me due to the end of the last chapter, so I'm sorry about killing off O'Riley, sorry bout dat. Anyways, God bless, love ya'll, and I'm in this, let's get it.**

 **Chapter 3: Letters to the front**

 **Jax**

Jax fired another few rounds off while Liam dragged O'Riley's body to the side and propped him up on the trench, closing his eyes. Jax was pushing the things O'Riley had taught him into overdrive, stay in the moment, they could grieve him later, they had to stay alive right now.

"Airstrike!" Somebody yelled "Duck and cover!"

They all ducked down just as Jax heard planes fly overhead, and the entire area in front of their trench was suddenly engulfed in a large, fiery explosion. The massive wave of heat signed his hair and burned small patches in his uniform, and they soon died down. When he peaked back over, it was carnage. The bodies of men that had been killed had been blown to bits and incinerated, the Scarlet Hand in the trenches in front of them was entirely gone except for the squads bringing up the rear who were massing for another assault.

"Quick, while we have a few seconds!" Another guy yelled "Get a medic down here, now!"

Jax looked back and seen the kid who had been holding his guts in with his hands, his blood soaking his uniform. There wasn't a very high chance he would live, and he would have stomach problems for the rest of his life if he did. Jax had seen a lot of things in the time he'd been a Guardian, nasty things, things he would rather forget about, but they always seemed to stick with him, no matter how hard he tried.

"Alright, c'mon now," Liam said, his southern accent very clear "You're gonna be alright, just listen to my voice, don't focus on the pain. We'll get ya stitched up real good, then you'll be in fighting shape."

Jax still remembered the first time he met Liam, he had been the replacement for Jax's best friend. He never thought he would consider Liam a brother, as he once had consider Frank his brother, but fighting alongside somebody made it impossible not to form bonds with them. Liam always talked about his Louisiana home, where his parents had settled after coming from the old country, having him a short time after. He eventually joined the ranks of palace guard and guarded the castle during the story of Cinderella, which was how he became a Forgotten.

"I don't want to fight," The kid moaned "I don't want to fight anymore, I want to go home."

This struck Jax hard, because he knew exactly how he felt. He missed his family, his mother, his sister, his wife, his two children. He hadn't seen them in so long, nearly seventeen years, when he had been given a temporary leave. They aged slower than normal children, so Jax guessed they would be about a year old to a mortal, it still didn't change how much he wished he could see them. He, like most of the Guardians, no longer felt like they were fighting for a good cause. He felt like they were fighting and dying for nothing, seeing as the family they had fought to protect wasn't even aware of their existence until the war had come to Ferryport Landing. They had been founded by Grimms, then led by Grimms, then forgotten about by Grimms. Sure Sabrina and her family were nice people, and it wasn't their fault, but there was only so much a man could take.

"Heads up!" Harris yelled, pointing "Medevac!"

"Hurry!" Conners yelled "Get the wounded on it before the Scarlet Hand advance again!"

They rushed to do as they were told, piling as many wounded as possible into the helicopter, but there wouldn't be enough room. They put the most severely injured in, the rest would have to grit their teeth and hold out for a little bit. Liam was standing with the kid Jax had seen in the trench, he had found out his name was Simon, trying to keep him calm.

"Listen to me," Liam said, wrapping his and Simon's hands around the cross on his neck "I'm gonna pray with you, okay? I'm gonna pray with you."

Jax turned away, looking towards Conners, who was propped up next to O'Riley's body. If they wanted to grieve, now was the time, while they had a moment of peace. Jax made his way over and sat down, offering Conners a cigarette, which he took and lit without hesitation.

"I can't believe it," Conners muttered "It all happened so fast, I couldn't stop it."

"None of us could've," Jax said, lighting his own cigarette "I always thought this tough old bastard would be the last of us to go."

"He always talked about going back home," Conners said, a slight smile on his lips "You remember him telling us about his wife?"

"Yeah, what did he say?" Jax laughed "Something about a red, satin dress?"

"The blondest hair and the greenest eyes you ever saw," Black finished, coming up from behind "Old guy sure was fond of her."

"I hate the thought of her getting that KIA letter in the mail," Conners said "It just ain't right, to have all that to go home to, to have her waiting on him, and then this."

"At least they'll give her his body," Jax said "That's some consolation."

"Same can't be said for anybody who got killed out there," Black said, looking out over the trench "There ain't nothing left of those guys."

"That kid ain't gonna make it," Liam said from above them "It's bad, he's holding in his own guts, he's bleeding fast."

"Come on down here," Black told him "Pay your last respects to the Lieutenant."

"Copy that." He said

Liam hopped down on the other side of Black, turning to face O'Riley. Mathews, Miller, Rogue, Harris, and Dusty came from behind them, finally seeing O'Riley with their own eyes. The shock settled in over the squad, and Jax realized that the only one missing was Puck, but he would find out sooner or later.

"I ain't very good at speaking," Dusty said "Somebody want to say a few words."

"The old Lieutenant was a tough S-O-B," Liam began "With a kind heart at the same time, he could slit a man's throat and pet a dog in the same hour."

At this, Jax rolled his eyes. Liam may have been alright at talking and breaking the ice, but when it came to formal speeches, he was no good to anybody. Although, what he had said was very true, and he'd actually seen the Lieutenant do it.

"He didn't make it through, just like so many before him," Liam began again "But he always fought his hardest, so that the guys next to him could go home safely, and that's gotta count for something. I hope they got good beer in Heaven, LT."

"Beautiful," Miller said "Brilliantly crafted."

"I think the Lieutenant would've slapped him," Conners laughed "And told him to get back to his duty."

"In honor of the old guy, I think that's what we all need to do," Mathews said, reaching over and smacking the back of Liam's helmet "Fight to win the war for the cause he believed in, or die trying."

"Conners, I guess this makes you squad leader," Rogue said "Do we call you Master Sergeant now?"

"Call me whatever you want," Conners said, standing "I've always wanted to be a squad leader, just not like this."

"I don't think anybody ever wants it to go down like this," Rogue said, reaching over to close the Lieutenant's eyes "But I think out of all of us, O'Riley probably would've chose you."

"Well, I'll need a second in command," Conners laughed "Jax, Black?"

"Yeah?" They asked together

"How does Sergeant sound to you guys?" He asked

 **Red**

"You got _another_ letter from Jake." Daphne teased, handing Red an envelope

Red blushed and quickly snatched the envelope, hiding it away from Daphne. She and Jake had become good friends in the time he was in her care, and they wrote eachother from time to time while Jake was on the battlefield. She remembered the day he had been carried in, badly burned and probably thinking he would die. Red walked into the infirmary, which was still filled with wounded soldiers but most of them were sleeping. She opened the letter carefully, as if it might crumble to dust if she moved too quickly.

 _Red_

 _It's been absolute hell out here, constant fighting, like always. The others tease me a lot for writing you, they probably think something's going on between us. Anyways, we're heading out to check what that whole thing about missing patrols was, maybe we can find some answers, hopefully anyways. I haven't seen much action since I've been back, that'll probably change soon, peace and quiet usually doesn't last long out here. The new tank crew is alright, Bible and I still feel a bit out of place but they're good guys. Nico, Elias, Cole, that's their names. They lost two guys, Captain Morgan and a guy named Bronze, to that Jabberwocky. Nico and Elias seemed to have warmed up to us alright, but Cole may take a little bit. I understand the pain of losing your brothers and having to adjust to their replacements, it's hard and sometimes you just want to hate them so bad. I don't think I ever did get the proper chance to thank you for what you did by the way, saving my life. Those salves worked amazingly, and I was back up in no time, all thanks to your doctoring I guess. Anyways, I hope you'll write me back, it gets lonely out here with nobody but these guys to talk to._

 _-Jake_

Red let a slight smile come to her face, reading Jake's words and seeing his handwriting. Red found herself wondering if the other Grimm's thought something was going on between her and Jake. Although she was older than Jake in human years, he looked older than her, even if only by two or three years.

"Everything okay in here?" She heard Granny Relda's voice from the doorway

"Yes," Red said, stuffing the letter away "Most of the soldiers are sleeping, the ones that aren't aren't in much pain."

"Jake wrote again?" Relda asked, a smile creeping to her lips

"Yes," Red admitted "I was actually about to write him back, he's a good friend."

"I warn you, falling in love with a soldier is no easy task," Relda said grimly "Never knowing if they'll come home to you, the way they've changed once they finally do come back."

"I'm not in love with him!" Red exclaimed, her face reddening

She did understand what the old woman was saying though, because she had seen it in Puck. Puck had been so playful, always playing jokes on the rest of the family, always keeping everybody's morale up. Now, he wasn't the same person, he had seen things, horrible things. Puck had been through quite a bit, even before the war, now it was much worse.

"Of course you're not," Relda smiled "Of course you're not."

She turned away and left the room, leaving Red alone with her thoughts, never a good thing. She had never quite gotten rid of those animalistic instincts from her time as an insane asylum patient, the wolf made it worse, and now the war was putting more than it's fair share of stress on her. Red grabbed a pen and paper and began writing, thinking about everything she said before she put it down. She knew the process it would take, Guardians wrote their families all the time. She would have to take it to the pilot when he went for a supply drop, where he would be loading up ammunition, medical supplies, and letters, they would then fly it to the Guardian's base in town, passing it out the the soldiers that they belonged to, and if they were dead, the letter was sent back to where it came from, with the letters KIA stamped on it in red ink.

 _Jake_

 _It's good to hear from you again, I can imagine how boring it gets out there. I'm sure it never stays that way for long, why would it? I heard the Scarlet Hand is massing outside of town again, I hope you'll be alright. I can't wait until the day this war finally ends, it's taken a toll on us all. I can't imagine how difficult the change will be for the Guardians, who have been fighting for so long that they almost know nothing else. I do wonder what will happen to the remaining Scarlet Hand units, will they perhaps simply be destroyed, or maybe reprogrammed to serve us? I hope you'll stay safe, I know it's impossible but at least try to not put yourself in any intentional danger, and tell Bible to remember to keep working out his arm muscles, I wish they hadn't cleared him, I didn't like how his shoulder blades felt when we did the final check, and I'd hate to have him be killed because of it._

 _-Red_


	4. Chapter 4: Pursuit of memories

**Hey guys, ain't much to say so I'll just be going on into it, God bless, pleas read and review. ATTENTION ALL READERS! APRIL 15, 2016 I WILL BE CHANGING MY PEN NAME TO JUST SOMEDUDE!**

 **Chapter 4: Pursuit of memories**

 **Pvt. Dane Mathews**

They were on the helicopter back to the Grimm's house. Charming called in and pulled their squad from the warzone, said he had a mission for them, and that Puck had recovered, and that the Lieutenant's replacement was ready. Mathrews didn't know who this new recruit was, but he could already tell they weren't going to ever replace O'Riley

"Alright boys," Conners said "We're coming up on the Grimm house, I don't know what this mission is, but I can guarantee you it won't be able to handle us."

Conners tried keeping their morale up after the LT's death, but it had settled in hard. First Jeffreys, now O'Riley. Mathews had fought alongside them for years, it was like having your brother literally ripped from your side while you stood by, powerless to stop it. His knuckled were turning white as he gripped his sniper rifle, vowing silent vengeance on the people who had killed brothers.

"Come on now," Miller said "I know O'Riley's death has us a little down, but we can't spend our time thinking about him. It ain't what he would've wanted, and it'll get us killed."

"Miller's right," Rogue said, nudging him "We're gonna be okay, the old guy may be gone, but we'll all see him again one day."

"Like I said," Liam laughed "I hope they got good bear in Heaven."

"I'll bet ya they do," Conners said "And I bet the old man's having a cold one right now, watching over us."

"Yes sir," Jax laughed "Probably wishin' Liam would've given a better speach."

This made them all laugh, which felt good on Mathews's face. He hadn't smiled in what seemed like so long, he hardly ever had a reason to these days. He hadn't gotten a letter from Gretchen in weeks, he was wondering if maybe she had moved on and met another man. Mathews hoped she didn't, he'd hate to come home to that. Although, he was gone for so long he wouldn't have blamed her. The smile suddenly faded from his face as he thought about it, and he forced himself to push it away.

"Coming in for a landing," The pilot said "Go on ahead and get out, we'll head back to help out the boys on the front."

"Copy that." Conners said, motioning for us to follow him

The chopper was less than five feet off the ground, not a big jump. Conners jumped, and was quickly followed by the rest of the squad. Conners gave a quick salute to the pilot as the chopper took off, leaving them alone in the Grimm's yard.

"Ah, you're here," An old woman's voice came from behind them "Good, Charming will be glad to see you. But not until you get showered up and have some decent food in your bellies."

"That won't be necessary, Mrs. Grimm," Conners said "We'll have to report directly-"

"Oh nonsense," Relda laughed "It's no trouble at all, come along now."

Turning down a decent meal and a shower wasn't seeming like a smart thing for Mathews to do, so he shrugged and followed the old lady inside. Conners rolled his eyes and motioned the rest of the men to follow him, knowing that their appetites would eventually get the better of them.

"I assume you've at least heard a bit about why Charming has called you here?" Relda said, pushing the front door open

"Yes ma'am," Conners said "Pulled us straight off the line in the middle of battle, this had better be good."

"Oh I promise you," She said "It is."

They filed into the kitchen where Puck was seated at the dinner table, in his uniform. He smiled as his brothers entered the room, and Mathews laughed, clapping him on the back. He grimaced, as though it pained him, but he looked much better than he had the last time they'd seen him.

"Well if it isn't our old friend," Jax laughed "I'm getting really tired of dragging your sorry ass away from explosions, Private."

"I'm tired of getting caught in them." Puck laughed

As the Guardians sat down, the other Grimms filed inside. Red, Basil, Veronica, Sabrina, Daphne, Jake, Henry, and Elvis the dog. Mathews liked dogs, and Elvis loved Mathews. He called Elvis to him, and he came without hesitation, sitting down eagerly awaiting a bite of whatever food Mathews had on him. He broke off a small chunk of his rations and fed it to the dog, who threw it down like it was the best thing he'd ever tasted. Mathews began to notice how quiet Basil was, very unusual for a kid his age, but he supposed that this type of environment would kill anybody's need for conversation. Charming and Snow White followed in behind them, looking as if they'd just argued. Charming was dressed in his uniform, with four medals hanging from it. He took a seat and gave a small smile to the men seated before him, while Relda began dealing out the food.

"First, it's good to see you all in one piece," Charming began "Secondly, you'll be happy to know that Puck has been medically cleared to return to duty."

"Yes sir," Conners said, taking the plate of food Relda offered him "If I may ask, sir, why were we taken off the front line in the middle of a battle for this? What's that important."

"I'm glad you asked, Sergeant," Charming said "I have a special assignment for you, and several other units. We received word from the Editor a few hours ago, and it appears that the Scarlet Hand has found a way into the book of Everafter."

"They what?" Puck asked "How?"

"Forget how," Miller said "Why is that our problem? We need to control the town, not some stupid book."

"Because the memories have escaped from the book, all the unpublished stories and characters pushed away from it have begun escaping and attacking troops, Scarlet Hand and Guardian alike," Charming said "And so, the Scarlet Hand has gone inside, thinking that if they destroy the book, it might stop it."

"And it won't?" Sabrina asked

"No, it won't," Charming said "As a matter of fact, it will destroy Everafters. Since those memories aren't part of the story, they will continue to run rampant, with nobody to stop them."

"But the one leading the Scarlet Hand is an Everafter," Black spoke up "Wouldn't that benefit us?"

"You forget, the one leading the Guardians is also an Everafter," Snow said "As well as countless others fighting for our same cause, the Editor has agreed to help us with these memories if we agree to go into the book and stop the Scarlet Hand."

"I'm sending in handpicked units," Charming said "Tanks and infantry, Baba Yaga can't move the aircraft inside. The Editor has the book, so we have to use magic, and he has also promised not to send his Erasers out to clean up the mess and fix the stories until the Scarlet Hand is gone, so you won't have to worry about them."

"So we're going into a book," Mathews said "And we're taking the war with us. God help us all, we're fighting in our favorite fairy tales."

"You'll get showered, fed, cleaned up, and stock your weapons and ammunition," Charming said "After that, we'll send you in. There will be other men with you, and do try not to get any of the people in the stories killed."

"Will do, sir." Jax said sarcastically

"And one more thing," Charming said "Lieutenant O'Riley's replacement has arrived. She's finished her training, and thanks to Snow's constant nagging about it, she'll be joining your unit."

"Nagging?" Snow demanded

"She?" Conners asked "Where is she, sir?"

"She's right there," Charming said, nodding to Sabrina "Gentlemen, meet Private Sabrina Grimm, the newest member of your squad."

 **Jake**

 **16:00 hours**

 **Book of Everafter**

 **Story: Cinderella**

"Alright boys," Cole said "Eyes open for any Scarlet Hand, try not to hit anything else."

"No promises," Nico laughed "I've got an itchy trigger finger, where's those sons of bitches gotten off to?"

"Jake?" Bible asked

"Not a fuckin' thing," Jake said, looking around "I think we're clear."

"Alright, pull the tank over," Elias said "I gotta stretch my legs."

"Me too." Cole said

The tank stopped rolling and Elias pushed the top of the tank open, pulling himself out of it. Cole followed him, then Bible, then Nico, and Jake went out last. When Jake pulled himself out, Cole was already passing around a pack of cigarettes and pacing the perimeter of the tank. Jake took one when it came to him, lighting it up almost instantly. He didn't smoke when he'd first arrived, most of them didn't, but combat did strange things to a man.

"I say just nuke this stupid book," Nico said "Fuck this pushing them back bullshit, blow this fucker up."

"Amen to that," Bible said "Pull our boys out of the town, lure the Scarlet Hand in, level the town."

"Then start carpet bombing the shit out of the mountains until we're sure that we got them all," Cole said "Send some guys in on foot just to be sure."

"If we were running this war it would've been over years ago." Bible laughed

"If we were running this war this entire world would be a nuclear wasteland," Jake said "Everywhere I've been, all I've heard is blow it up."

They all broke out in laughing fits, and the sounds echoed throughout the night. They were a few miles outside a small village on some farmland, patrolling for Scarlet Hand. The Guardians had immediately set up a base in the king's palace, who offered his soldiers, which were declined. Nobody knew where the Scarlet Hand might be waiting, so all troops were on alert, and Jake's sensed were worn.

"Keep your eyes open," Cole warned them as they laid back on the outside of the tank "Scarlet Hand could be anywhere, and possibly more of those memory things running around in here."

"How did they even get out?" Bible wondered "Isn't there supposed to be some sort of barrier keeping them out of the stories?"

"Somebody must've knocked it down for them," Elias spoke up "The question is who."

They all fell silent, listening to the crickets chirp in the night sky. The Editor had said he wouldn't send in Erasers until the Guardians had pushed back the Scarlet Hand, which meant the people in the town were free to do whatever they wanted without being reprimanded, and Jake was willing to bet the people were willing to live in a war zone for that type of freedom.

"Lucy to Drill," A voice spoke from inside the tank "Lucy to Drill, Sergeant Cole, do you read me?"

Cole pulled himself up next to the tank hatch and reached inside, coming out with the radio. Jake knew that this probably wasn't good, and somebody was probably in trouble if they were being contacted in the middle of the night like this, even despite the fact they were already out on a patrol.

"Copy that, Graham Cracker," Cole said "What do you need?"

"We've got a convoy of Scarlet Hand vehicles heading your way, just trucks and troops, no tanks." Graham said

"And you want us to hold our position until reinforcements get here?" Cole asked

"Yeah, that's the plan," Graham laughed "Scouts didn't report seeing any rocket launchers, so you should be fine."

"Heard that before," Cole muttered "Alright boys, let's move out."

"Ugh," Elias groaned, climbing back onto the tank "Had to be on our patrol."

"We'll only have to hold for a minute or two," Jake laughed "It'll be fun."

"I been itching to blow down some more Scarlet Hand." Cole grunted, dropping into the tank

They gathered back into the tank and Jake heard it start up, it's familiar hum beneath his feet. He looked down the sight of his gun and watched out for any Scarlet Hand in the fields, popping out to take shots. They moved up the road slowly, but Jake still couldn't see anything.

"I see something," Bible said, looking down the sights of the cannon "Looks like a Scarlet Hand convoy alright."

"Open fire?" Jake asked, looking at Cole

"Yeah," Cole nodded "But let Bible fire first, but we're gonna have to move up."

Cole steered the tank forward, and the convoy began to come into view. Jake was amazed they hadn't been spotted yet, as they were wide out in the open, but nothing seemed to indicate that the Scarlet Hand had seen them yet.

"Alright Bible," Cole said "Smack the shit out of em."

"On the way!" Bible called

A massive boom sounded and a cloud of dirt flew up around the Scarlet Hand convoy, which scattered. Gunfire blazed to life in front of them and Jake heard bullets bouncing off the tank, and took it as his cue to open fire. He let a burst go into a small group of them hiding in the bushes, watching them fall.

"On the way!" Bible yelled again

One of the trucks exploded in a massive ball of fire, blowing away several Scarlet Hand units. Jake opened fire into the line again, ripping apart even more of them. Cole was seated on the gun outside, letting every round they had go into them.

"Come here you sons of bitches," Bible muttered "Come on, that's it...On the way!"

Another massive explosion rocked the country side and knocked a crater in the road, throwing Scarlet Hand units everywhere. As Jake was letting rounds pour into the convoy, something caught his eye. A pack of wolf looking creatures was running towards them at a high speed, looking extremely vicious. Another thing he noticed, they were made of a clear, gelatin-like substance.

"Oh shit!" He yelled "Guys! It's those memory things again!"

They turned away from the Scarlet Hand and broke for the tank, moving several feet with each step. Jake let a burst go but they absorbed the bullets, and still kept moving. Jake began to panic, he had no clue what to do.

 _Is this the end?_ He thought to himself

 **Bangarang! Not a Skrilex reference, fuck that bitch, it's a Hook reference, because I'm a boss. Anyways, I'd like to give a quick shoutout to everybody who has reviewed so far, I love you guys, makes my day so much better. Head over to Booksie (Stick the ole dot and then a com in there too) and check out my new book, Earned in blood. You can find me under the name Just Somedude, anyways, God bless, and I love you guys.**


	5. Chapter 5: Another front

**Hey guys, I know it's been a little bit and I'm sorry for the wait. A quick shoutout to all of ya'll who reviewed, a special shoutout to Curlscat who has succeeded in explaining comma splices to me, and although I still suck at it, my story has a better flow because I have now learned how to use commas. Also, anybody that was all hyped up about Sabrina being a soldier now, you can also thank Curlscat for that after we had a talk about how badass Sabrina should be and how badass she wasn't being. Anyways, bust them moves and flip them bricks, I got two phones, one for the plug and one for the load, I ran out on the plug twice, and all that. RIP LA Capone! Free9! Free22! And if anybody knows what I'm talking about, Lil Durk has apparently figured out a way to get Rondonumbanine out of jail, so fingers crossed that Cdai won't be too far behind. Rest In Peace to Lil Bango too Naptown's finest, I'm afraid the same can't be said for Lil Skooter about getting out of jail, but if Skooter ever reads this, keep ya head up folk, you'll be alright. Anyways, remember to read and review, and as always God bless.**

 **BY THE WAY! I MAKE A CALL OF DUTY 2: THE BIG RED ONE REFERENCE IN THIS CHAPTER, LET'S SEE WHO CAN SPOT IT!**

 **Chapter 5: Another front**

 **Puck**

"Absolutely not!" Puck exclaimed, standing up "No way in-"

"Excuse me?" Sabrina demanded "No? Puck, I've sat out in this war for too long, I won't do that any longer."

"Sir," Conners protested "With all due respect, our purpose is to protect the Grimms, not send them charging off into battle with us."

"I've been in plenty dangerous situations before," Sabrina said "Besides, it's not like I'll be alone."

"You've never been involved in anything like this, Sabrina," Black said "Trust me, you've never seen _anything_ like this."

"You're okay with this?" Puck demanded, turning to Henry

"No, I'm not," He said, sighing "But Sabrina is almost eighteen, I trust her to make her own decisions."

"Henry!" Puck yelled "Do you even have the slightest clue what you're sending her into?"

"That's enough soldier!" Charming barked at Puck "The decision has been made, and it is final. There will be no arguing, fighting, or overturning it!"

"Puck," Mathews whispered, grabbing his arm as he began to rise "He's right, Sabrina is officially a Guardian now, there's nothing we can do about where she goes and who she goes out with."

Puck was fuming, absolutely fuming, but he knew Mathews was right, there was no fighting this. He remained in his seat, glaring angrily at Charming, who didn't seem any more pleased by this decision than Puck did. Basil chose this moment to spark up his own conversation with the men, trying to even out the mood a bit.

"I hurt my arm today," He said brightly, showing off his skinned arm "Only it didn't really hurt that bad."

"Now that's a scrape," Mathews laughed "I'll tell you a little story, buddy. A few years ago, we were out somewhere in Germany, and this hawk just-"

"Dane," Jax said, nudging him "He's just a kid."

"Oh yeah," Mathews laughed sheepishly "I kinda forgot that."

Puck knew exactly what story Mathews had been about to tell, and he was glad Jax had stopped him, it would've scarred little Basil for life. He kept his gaze away from Sabrina, who he knew was still upset by his outburst. She was by far the toughest girl he'd ever met in his life, but he wasn't sure about tossing her into a war. He figured he should just thank God that Daphne hadn't decided she wanted to do more to help the war effort. He knew Snow would've enlisted herself if Charming would allow her, and Charming would never put her in danger like that. He figured it wouldn't be long before Henry and Jake enlisted, but he didn't think anybody in their right mind would've allowed Sabrina to enlist, especially her previous displays of blatant disregard for any type of authority figure.

"So," Black said, clearing his throat "If I may, could we hear more about this mission, sir?"

"You, along with a few thousand other Guardians, are being sent into the book of Everafter through a portal Baba Yaga has been able to open," Charming explained "Our goal is to push the Scarlet Hand out of the book. Once we've done this, the Editor has agreed to help us contain these creatures, whatever they are."

"So we're throwing away the lives of men to get rid of something we already know how to kill?" Liam demanded

"They're breeding," Relda said, cutting off Charming "I knew the only way to stop them was too ask the Editor himself for help, but I also knew he would want a favor in return, this favor is that we push the Scarlet Hand out of his book."

"Breeding?" Harris asked

"They're reproducing," Relda told them "Creating eachother, and they'll spread faster than you can kill them."

"This war just gets better and better." Miller muttered

They all fell silent again, continuing to eat. Daphne, who had been silent since they walked in, finally chose this moment to speak. Puck had known Daphne before the war, and he could speak for certain that she had been changed because of it. Whenever she spoke now, the brightness she used to give off was gone, replaced by a sense of hopelessness, the kind given off by a helpless animal trapped by a much superior hunter.

"What happens if they can't push them back?" She asked, voicing what each of them was thinking

"Then we've got a problem." Charming answered simply

"We've had a problem for the last few hundred years," Conners said "This is just another bump in the road."

 **Sabrina**

 **20:00 hours**

 **Book of Everafter**

 **Story: Snow White and the seven dwarves**

"Keep your weapon up when you move," Liam whispered to Sabrina, passing her "Less likely to get killed."

Sabrina nodded and raised her rifle, moving into position behind Liam. Puck was still angry, and Sabrina didn't even try and talk to him. She knew he would get over it in a few hours, he always did. They moved through the countryside, a small village looming in the distance, no Scarlet Hand in sight.

"Can we just get shot at yet?" Rogue groaned "It's too quiet and I hate it."

"Is he always like that?" Sabrina asked

"Yeah," Black shrugged "We all like the peace and quiet, but eventually it makes us all a bit antsy."

"I could use some more of it." Sabrina said, looking around

"Give it a bit," Puck said from behind her "It'll be gone."

They continued moving, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. There were three squads that had been sent out, and Sabrina's was bringing up the rear. She could see the other men in front, moving together and watching the fields. Sabrina was reminded of those old Vietnam war movies where the soldiers would be walking along the wheat fields, where VC or NVA soldiers would be hiding out, waiting for them. The thought made her a little nervous, and she picked up her pace.

"Stop!" Jax yelled suddenly, sticking his hand up

Sabrina froze dead, as did the men around her. Puck almost walked straight into her, and he stood so close she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. Puck tapped her shoulder and pointed ahead of them, where one of the soldiers was standing completely still with his foot pressing down on a landmine.

"Fuck," One of the soldiers said, doubling back "Brooklyn, this one's yours."

"For God's sake," Another Guardian said, moving carefully past Sabrina "I'm from the Bronx, Sarge."

"Shut up and disarm the landmine." The soldier said, pointing to the mine

"I don't get it," Sabrina whispered to Puck "Why not just step off of it and back away."

"If his foot leaves that pressure plate, it'll blow up," Puck explained "That's why Brooklyn is going to disarm it, so he can get off of it without it exploding."

"Don't worry, Ellis," Brooklyn said, kneeling down next to the landmine "I'll have you out of this in no time."

"Hurry," Ellis said nervously "I don't like standing in the open like this."

Brooklyn went to work disarming the bomb, the other Guardians keeping an eye out. Sabrina raised her weapon and looked around, trying to see anything out of the ordinary. Nothing presented itself, and Sabrina allowed her gaze to return to Brooklyn and Ellis.

"Alright," Brooklyn said, pulling out a wire "I think this one-"

That was as far as he got before a burst of gunfire cut through the silence, ripping Ellis in the chest. He fell back off the landmine, causing it to explode, killing four Guardians including Brooklyn. Instantly, Sabrina hit the ground for cover, trying to figure out which direction they had shot from. Puck slid into the ditch on the side and fired directly in front, using a rock in front of him for cover.

"Brooklyn!" One of the soldiers behind her yelled "Fuck!"

Sabrina fought the urge to vomit, a battle that she almost lost. When the landmine had gone off, a chunk of flesh had been blown out of Brooklyn's chest, landing right in front of Sabrina. The Guardian across from Sabrina took a shot to the head and dropped, blood pooling from his wound.

"Sabrina!" Jax yelled at her, crawling up next to her "What are you doing? Shoot back!"

"I can't even see them!" She yelled to him

"It doesn't matter!" Jax yelled, pointing straight ahead "They're somewhere over there, now suppress em!"

Sabrina poked her head, ever so slightly, over the top of the ditch, praying a bullet didn't smack her in the head. She could see where the rest of the Guardians were shooting, and she peered down the scope on her rifle, squeezing the trigger gently. A small burst of bullets shot into the field, followed by another, and then another.

"Frag!" Puck yelled, tossing something into the field

Moments later, a massive boom tore and Sabrina's eardrums, sending dirt and cornstalks flying through the air. Sabrina sent another few rounds into the field just to be sure, then she noticed that Guardians had begun to stand, leveling their weapons and firing as they advanced. She fell in behind Conners, sending several more rounds. She squeezed once more, but was rewarded with a clicking sound, no more ammo.

"Cease fire!" Conners called "Hold up!"

Sabrina dropped the clip out and put another one in, looking around for more Scarlet Hand soldiers, but finding none. She looked around, checking their numbers. She could see dead Scarlet Hand soldiers inside a small hole dug into the field in front of them, and six dead Guardians lying around on the path.

"That," Puck said, coming from behind "Is why you never step _off_ the landmine until it's disarmed."

"He didn't step off," Sabrina reminded him "He got shot."

Puck shrugged and continued moving, checking the hole for surviving Scarlet Hand. The firefight had ended as quickly as it had started, and Sabrina was almost shocked out how easy it seemed. She had been scared at first, of course, but returning fire wasn't hard. One of the things they had drilled into her during her training was that she wasn't shooting at men, she was shooting at machines in a man's body. However, what Sabrina was seeing in that hole wasn't wires and gears, it was flesh and blood, and now she was having second thoughts.

 _No,_ She thought angrily, steeling her nerves _You are not going to sit around while people die for you just because you're getting cold feet, it's too late to turn back now anyways._

Sabrina was by no means a coward, she was not easily thrown off her game, but had she known the things she would soon be witnessing before the end of this war, she may have considered twice before enlisting. Snow had fought hard against Charming to convince him to let her fight, and she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

 **Capt. Bridget Solace**

 **Guardians: Air force**

 **South America**

 **Mission briefing: A Scarlet Hand compound has been discovered in the jungles of Brazil. Intelligence believes that this compound has been producing Scarlet Hand units and supplying soldiers and weapons to the forces assaulting Ferryport Landing. A five man team of fighter pilots has been sent to take down the compound in hopes that this will cripple the Scarlet Hand's ability to continue the siege.**

"Alright boys," Bridget said into her headset "Let's do this quickly, no causalities."

"Will do, Captain." Wing responded

She veered her bomber to the side slightly, looking at the screen in front of her. It showed nothing but jungles at the moment, but the compound wouldn't be too far out. The night sky would conceal them until they began the attack, then they would have to move quick.

"Single file line," She reminded her squad "Fire twice, pull up, if we have to go for a second run then we will."

"I wonder what they'll tell the mortals happened when they see this one." Knight wondered out loud

"Probably say a storm," Wing said "Forgetful dust will convince them of anything, we could tell them it was a terrorist attack."

"There it is!" Rig exclaimed "I see the search lights!"

Bridget looked down at her screen and saw that Rig was right, a compound was now visible, not that far ahead of them. Her team pulled behind her in a single file line, just like she'd told them to. She was slightly nervous, this was her first mission as a squad leader, her every move could result in the death of one of her men.

"Captain?" Knight asked "We're in position, on your mark."

"Yeah," Bridget said, pulling herself back to reality "Mark."

She pushed her plane downwards, angling it at the compound. She knew that the Scarlet Hand had spotted them, as they began firing. They were out of range, and the flak simply exploded about a hundred feet below them, they would be able to fire their missiles and veer off before they were even in range.

"I love this part!" Lewis laughed, bringing up the rear

"Speak for yourself." Rig said back, nervousness in his voice

Rig hadn't been serving with them for very long, and he was still working out his battle jitters. Bridget remembered, without fondness, her first battle. North Africa, 1992, it hadn't gone very well, it was a miracle she had even made it to the ground. She squeezed the trigger and two missiles launched from her jet, sending them straight into the compound. She veered upward, not even getting to see the explosion, but she was sure it was spectacular due to Knight's reaction.

"Ohhhhh!" He laughed "Hell yeah! Nice shot, Captain!"

She saw Knight veering behind her and Wing closely following him, and she let a grin come to her face. They may have to turn back and go for a second run, but they had knocked a huge chunk in the compound for sure.

"Lewis?" She asked "How we looking?"

"One more run should do it," Lewis laughed "Damn, that was pretty cool."

"Turning back," Bridget laughed "Let's do it."

She veered back into position and let the others fall in behind her, lining up her shot. They had leveled a good section of it, and another run would definitely finish it off. She let two more go and then shot up, letting Knight take his run.

"Suck on that ya sons of bitches!" Wing yelled, laughing with joy

Bridget let a small grin come to her face as Lewis pulled up, finishing his run. Mission accomplished!

 **Unit 739**

 **23:00 hours**

 **Scarlet Hand**

 **Book of Everafter**

 **Story: Little Red Riding Hood**

 **Sector 172633820**

739 glanced around, looking for Guardians. He didn't see any so he signaled his squad that they could rest for a moment, a reprieve that they gladly took. Atticus might act as if they were just machines that felt no fatigue or pain, but he was very wrong. They weren't machines, they were clones, they were men.

"Sir," One of the men, 362, spoke up "Radio command from the General."

"What did he say?" 739 asked

"Prepare to make the push into the village in sector 17283829," 362 said "The Guardians are dug the perimeter and it's heavily fortified, but it will serve as a forward command post."

739 rolled his eyes, making sure his men saw it. Charming was an idiot if he though they were going to be able to push through to the village with the way the Guardians would be dug in, it was a suicide mission. If Charming was saying 'heavily fortified' then they might as well prepare for the entire Guardian and US Army combined.

"Pack up and let's move," 739 sighed, standing "Might as well just get this over with."

"Yes sir!" They all echoed, standing with him

They fell in line behind him and began walking, moving in the direction of the village. 739 assumed that there would already be Scarlet Hand soldiers massing by the village, preparing for the attack. They continued up the path, heading off to the side to avoid any patrols they might run into.

"283 to 739," A voice buzzed from his radio "283 to 739."

"739," He said, picking up his radio "Go ahead, 283."

"We're beginning our assault on sector 1629302937," He said "You and your team will be coming in from sector 1594027273."

"Yes sir." 739 said, putting the radio back

They continued moving up the path until they had come to the edge of the forest, looking out directly into a village. 739 could see Guardian trenches dug all around the perimeter, machine gun turrets spaced apart, facing at the woods, tanks sitting behind them, it was a suicide mission alright.

"Sir," 364 whispered from behind him "All units are in position, we're just waiting for the official command to begin the assault."

739 nodded and turned back to the village, scanning it. A head on assault would be suicide without tanks, which they had. It would be extremely difficult without air support, which they didn't have. They would have to use the tanks for cover, advancing on the Guardian lines until they eventually overran them.

"Begin the assault!" A voice yelled through the radio "All troops, begin the assault!"

"That's the order," 739 told his men, turning towards them "Move!"

 **Pvt. Alex "Mop" Stevenson**

 **Guardians**

 **Book of Everafter**

 **Story: Little Red Riding Hood**

Mop sat in the trench, manning the machine gun. Next to him, Hopper had his rifle grip on the ground, using it as a stand. The tanks behind them were positioned for battle, facing every direction. Mop saw some movement in the treeline and peered at the forest, making out vaguely human shapes.

"Scarlet Hand!" Somebody called "In the trees!"

"Open fire!" Somebody else yelled

Mop squeezed the trigger, spraying into the treeline as tanks emerged, Scarlet Hand taking cover behind them. The tank right above them fired a shot, ricocheting it off the Scarlet Hand armor. A burst of bullets came from the gun on the tank, ripping into the trench, hitting several Guardians. Mop ducked down, letting the bullets fly around him, smacking the dirt behind him. Hopper took several to his body, the force throwing him back.

"Hit those tanks!" Crock yelled "Now!"

A shot from the tank behind them slammed into the Scarlet Hand tank, blowing it to bits and scattering the soldiers around it. Some of them weren't dead, so Mop squeezed the trigger and shot into their bodies, eliminating them permanently.

"Keep shooting!" Mop called out "They'll be falling back any minute!"

He hoped he was right, but he knew they wouldn't retreat unless given a direct order. Mop kept shooting but the Scarlet Hand just kept pouring out of the woods, firing into the trench and taking out Guardians with seemingly every shot. A helicopter went down in the field to the side, rocking the ground as it hit.

"Fall back!" Somebody yelled "They're too close, fall back to secondary-"

The officer yelling the order was struck down by a bullet to the head, dropping him. Mop turned back and looked in front of him, staring directly at the advancing Scarlet Hand. They were mowing down Guardians left and right and were almost upon them, he had to fall back quickly. Before he could move, Scarlet Hand began pouring into the trenches, overwhelming the Guardians inside it.

"Shit!" Someone called out

The Guardian next to Mop took a head shot and dropped to the ground, blood leaking from around his neck. More Scarlet Hand poured in, shooting every which direction and taking down a Guardian with every shot. Mop fired into a small group of them, dropping five, but then he felt a tremendous force from behind, knocking him to the ground. His head throbbed, but he barely had time to register it before he heard the bang.

 **Hey guys, so I know this chapter seemed a bit random at times, but it's really hard to bounce back and forth between several placed while so many battles are going on. Anyways, I'm gonna try to work on it, please read and review, God bless, and as always, I love you guys.**


	6. Chapter 6: The skirmish at Red Snow

**Hello to everybody, how are ya'll? Good? Okay so now let's just jump right into it. You don't know what happened then go back and read because I ain't playing around with all this dumb bullshit.**

 **Chapter 6: The skirmish at Red Snow**

 **Mathews**

 **Book of Everafter**

 **Story: Snow White and the seven dwarves**

"Alright, Sabrina," Conners said, dragging the last Scarlet Hand prisoner forward "This one is for you."

Sabrina cast a quick glance to Puck and Mathews, unsure of what to do. Puck nodded and indicated pulling the trigger of his weapon, and Sabrina nodded in response. She leveled her rifle and took a brief moment of hesitation, and he couldn't blame her. Sometimes it was hard to remember that these things were no more than machines in a man's body. Her hesitation lasted only a few seconds before the crack of a gunshot was heard, and the Scarlet Hand unit fell to the ground.

"That was refreshing." Liam laughed as Conners motioned for them to keep walking

"Dusty!" Conners called "Get up here, you're on point."

"Yes sir!" Dusty called, running past Mathews

Dusty was the squad medic, but squad medics never stayed with only one squad. During a battle, they tended to move around and help whoever they could. Mathews listened to the steady drone of gunshots and artillery off in the distance, squinting to see the small flashes of thirty millimeter rounds touching down.

"You know," Rogue said from behind them "The country side is beautiful, even if it is being blown to shit. It's almost like R&R."

"If this is Charming's idea of R&R," Puck laughed "Why don't you just fucking shoot me, please."

"I agree with Rogue," Miller shrugged "It is pretty, and it's a nice change from Ferryport Landing. No offense, Sabrina."

"None taken," Sabrina laughed "I'm not a huge fan of it anymore either."

"I never was," Puck muttered "I just got trapped there."

A buzz of laughter made it's way through the men, circling around and eventually dying down after a few seconds. Mathews glanced around, checking for enemies. They were walking back and forth over the front lines, there had to be somebody near them.

"Dusty!" Sabrina yelled from behind him

Mathews looked around just in time to see a humongous, humanoid-like creature swing downward, taking a chunk off of the road, and trapping Dusty. It had literally come from nowhere, and it was made out of a gelatin substance.

"It's one of those fucking memory things!" Conners yelled "Take him down!"

Mathews pulled off a grenade and popped the pin, launching it into the creature. Puck shot a grenade from his launched behind him, and Conners was yelling for everybody to scatter. Sabrina was letting off grenades faster than the creature would regenerate, but she would soon run out.

"We need reinforcements!" Liam was yelling as they scattered for cover "Bring the biggest fucking rounds you've got. I don't kno-oh man oh man, if you seen this shit!"

Black fired another grenade, knocking a chunk from the foot. Harris and Sabrina was attempting to make their way over to Dusty to grab him, but the creature had spotted them. Mathews fired a shot from his sniper, scoring a hit on the eye. The creature backed up and roared, echoing all around them.

"He brought backup!" Puck yelled "And it looks like they've gotten the Scarlet Hand's attention!"

Mathews glanced to where he was pointing, and nearly fainting from shock. Dog-like creatures, made of the same substance as the bigger one, were pouring from the fields across from them, followed closely by Scarlet Hand troops.

 **Sabrina**

Sabrina jumped down into the crater that Dusty had fallen in, Harris right behind her. Thankfully, the creature hadn't touched Dusty head on, so he wasn't dead, but he arm was caught under a huge chunk of rocks. Harris gave cover fire while Sabrina tried her best to help Dusty out.

"Sabrina!" Dusty yelled "Get the fuck out of here! That's an order, Private! Both of you move, now!"

"I'm afraid I can't leave you, Sir!" Sabrina yelled back

"Hurry!" Harris yelled

Sabrina tugged and pebbles began to fall from the chunks of rock. Dusty's arm was caught tight, but Sabrina could get him out, it would take time, they needed more cover fire. Suddenly, an enormous bang sounded throughout the valley, and a ball of fire struck the memory above them in the arm.

"Scarlet Hand!" Harris yelled "Shit!"

"Fuck!" Dusty yelled, slamming his fist on the dirt "Sabrina I am ordering you and Harris to fall back, right now!"

"No!" Sabrina yelled "I'm not leaving you here to die!"

She moved to the side and began working Dusty's arm out from the other side, twisting and pulling it very carefully. It was beginning to slip out, and Sabrina would have to move quick if she didn't want the rocks to fall and crush her hands.

"There's a lot of them!" Harris yelled, continuing to fire

Sabrina gave a final, small pull, freeing Dusty's arm from the rubble. She moved her hands out just as the rock, with Dusty out from under it, fell. It smashed the ground and Dusty grabbed his rifle, ducking down. His arm was messed up, but he could fight, for the moment.

Sabrina looked over the hole and out at the chaos. Her squad was pinned down behind a stone wall in front of a small cottage, taking fire from the Scarlet Hand and battling the memories. They had to move if they wanted to live, but they were just as pinned down. Four Scarlet Hand tanks had rolled into the valley, followed by at least thirty Scarlet Hand troops. Harris poked his head out and a bullet bounced off the side of his helmet, ricocheting and shooting off to the side.

"Jesus!" Dusty laughed "You lucky bastard!"

Sabrina fired at a soldier and scored a hit, dropping him to the ground. They scattered to take cover, returning fire at them. Sabrina was beginning to panic when she realized that Guardian tanks were rolling through the fields behind them, firing on the Scarlet Hand tanks and the creature. There were seven tanks in total, followed by nearly a hundred infantry.

"Now!" Dusty yelled "Move! While they're giving us cover fire!"

They ran from the crater and towards their squad, dodging and ducking fire from all directions. Sabrina blasted a grenade into a memory as it pounced for them, blowing it to bits. The three of them moved towards their men in a leapfrog style formation, covering the retreat one by one. Sabrina ducked down for her turn and began to fire as Dusty ran past her, suddenly falling and yelling out.

"Fuck!" He screamed

Sabrina looked down and saw four holes in Dusty's torso, fifty caliber rounds. Blood oozed from the holes, spilling onto the dirt below him. Dusty struggled to breath, trying to force himself up. Puck was trying to move to them, but he was pinned down with the rest of the squad.

"Harris!" Sabrina yelled "Help me!"

She grabbed one arm and Harris grabbed the other, and together they dragged Dusty towards the wall. Scarlet Hand and Guardian tanks alike were pouring rounds into the creatures, taking them down by the dozens, while the infantry fired on one another.

"Dusty's hurt!" Harris yelled to Conners "We need a medic!"

"He is the medic, dumb fuck!" Jax screamed as they dragged him around the corner

Sabrina looked up at the giant creature and watched as severely explosions struck his body, blowing it into chunks. Guardians were pooling behind them and they would be able to move with them, but they couldn't leave Dusty alone.

"Puck, Sabrina, Jax, Miller, Black, and Liam!" Conners barked "You guys come with me, we're going after them. Rogue and Mathews, you guys give us some cover fire. Harris, you stay here with Dusty, don't let him bleed out, patch him us as much as you can!"

With no further words, Conners stood, racing after the Guardian soldiers in front of them. Sabrina followed him and soon they were running right to the front lines. Bullets bounced in the dirt all around her, but she kept on moving, forcing her fears away. The creatures had been almost fully wiped out and they were beginning to flee. The Scarlet Hand, however, had gotten reinforcements and were now pushing back at the Guardians.

 **Puck**

Puck ducked down as a bullet whizzed past his head, smacking into the dirt. Tanks and soldiers were now steadily rolling into the valley from both sides, opening fire before they had even come into view. Explosions rocked the once beautiful countryside, tearing holes into the fields and leveling houses. The farmers and their families had already cleared out, which Puck was thankful for because they'd probably be dead otherwise.

"We're too exposed!" Sabrina yelled to him "We need to find cover!"

"Behind the tanks!" Jax yelled, pointing to one rolling up "Use them for cover!"

They fell in behind the tank and returned fire at the Scarlet Hand, pouring round after round into their ranks, but they kept on coming. It appeared that the Scarlet Hand was having the same issue, at least three more Guardians showed up for every one that was killed.

"Some air support would be beautiful right now!" Liam yelled to them "Of course that old hag can't figure out how to get our planes and helicopters through the portal!"

"Ahh come on!" Puck laughed, leaning around the tank and firing "Baba Yaga isn't all that bad once you get to know her!"

"Puck, considering what I know about you from Shakespeare!" Black yelled "You and I have extremely different versions of 'not all that bad'!"

Conners laughed and continued sending rounds from his LMG into the Scarlet Hand ranks, taking them down in twos and threes. The tank to their left disappeared in a fiery ball, killing several grounds troops as well. Jax poked his head around the tank and almost got it blown off.

"Shit!" He yelled "By Puck's logic, this battle ain't all that bad. I mean hell, at least the fucker's ain't got laser guns or some shit!"

"The last time you opened your mouth like that!" Black yelled "We still had rifles and shotguns while the Scarlet Hand had machine guns, that was how we lost Antarctica!"

Puck rolled his eyes and fired a few rounds towards some Scarlet Hand troops, taking one down but only wounding the other two. Another Guardians nearer to them finished them off, and Puck fell back behind the tank.

"Hey!" Puck yelled, waving to Conners "I'm going up top!"

Conners nodded and gave Puck a boost to the top of the tank. Once he was on top, he turned around and offered his hand to Liam, pulling him up with him. Together, they ducked down behind the tank's main cannon, and Puck mounted the fifty on top while Liam traded his shotgun for Puck's rifle, and began picking off Scarlet Hand troops. Liam had the accuracy to be a sniper, he just rather lacked the patience, and his accuracy was better when he was moving in fast motions.

"Look at em fallin' back boys!" Liam laughed "Get some you bastards!"

Puck poured rounds from the fifty into the Scarlet Hand ranks, mowing them down in fours and fives. Armor piercing rounds tearing through the thin sheet of metal protecting the tank gunners, blowing them apart in chunks. Even though they compared the Scarlet Hand to machines, they were fully made of flesh and blood, but it didn't really bother Puck.

"Haha!" Miller laughed "Tear em a new asshole, Puck!"

Puck stopped to reload and then went right back to work, taking down soldiers in small groups, they had began to retreat. The Guardians were giving chase to a retreating Scarlet Hand force, but they wouldn't have the numbers to hold if they ran into reinforcements along the way. The officers new that too, and they were yelling for everybody to hold up and let them go. Eventually, the men stopped running and they simply watched the Scarlet Hand retreat back into the fields they had come from. Behind them, the last of the memories were being taken out.

"Hell yeah!" Liam yelled "Retreat you pussies, it's what you're best at!"

Cheers rose from the Guardian ranks, and they echoed throughout the darkening sky. It had been sunny when the battle started, and now the sun was almost setting. Bodies were lying everywhere, both Guardian and Scarlet Hand had taken casualties in great numbers. Liam jumped down off the tank and rejoined the squad, while Puck took one last look around at everything before he jumped off. When he landed, Liam was putting up his radio, his laughter replaced with anger.

"Medic from First platoon just radioed in!" Liam yelled over the cheers "We need to get back up there, Dusty looks pretty fucked up!"

 **Boom! And now that I have written and entire chapter from the sky, I have just done some serious binge writing. Literally wrote this whole thing in one sitting, then edited it, a lot. Don't judge, I just do my thing. So, please read and review, God bless!**


End file.
